WASHPO: Revered and reviled, Sandra Seegars is a brusque voice for Ward 8

(photo courtesy of Washington Post)

If Ward 8 had more ANC Commissioners like Commissioner Sandra Seegars, Ward 8 would have so much less tomfoolery. Kudos to Commissioner Seegars for her hardwork, focus, dedication, and fearlessness.  We need more community advocates like her! For those of you who don't know, before And Now Anacostia and Congress Heights on the Rise there was One Page at a Time, a community newsletter written by Commissioner Seegars to keep the community informed of Ward 8 goings-on.


Go HERE to read the full Washington Post article.

Excerpt:

"I could care less," she says. "If I got upset or reacted to everything people said about me, I would attract more vicious people. My father -- if he never said anything else right in his life -- he said, 'Meet them in the street and leave them in the street.' When I go home, I don't worry about it."



Seegars is perhaps one of the most controversial among the legions of community activists vigilant about keeping the city on its toes. ANC commissioners are elected and receive no salary. She is on a one-woman mission in Ward 8, D.C.'s most southern jurisdiction, which has one of the city's highest rates for crime, unemployment and children living in poverty. Her mission, she says, is that of a modern-day Robin Hood, "to take from the rich and give to the poor," a role she believes requires courage.

Seegars is not afraid of you, or the mayor, or of any of the employees who answer the phone in any of the District's agencies, which she calls often to get them to rectify complaints she collects from neighbors. "I give them three chances to answer my calls," Seegars says. "Then I call back and leave a voice message saying the next call is to your supervisor. They always call back with some kind of excuse like they were out or they were busy."


She is not afraid to walk her neighborhood in Southeast, where the murder rate is also among the highest in the city. Wasn't afraid when somebody tried to torch her car back in 2000. "Afraid?" she says. "No, I was mad as hell."

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